The National Sleep Well Beast

4 stars out of 5 -- "Lyrically and sonically, the National's seventh LP plumbs anxieties more deeply than ever. The result is a disarmingly potent album, not just emotionally but politically as well."
"The band's seventh studio album seems to exist in a spectral, late-night hour, in a space between dreaming and waking: there are liquid gurgles, metallic crackles, and xylophonic swoops..."
"[I]t was Berninger's narrative of a marriage in quiet crisis that caught the attention; not least because the lyrics were co-written with his wife, Carin Besser."
"[T]hroughout SLEEP WELL BEAST, the band seems to be pushing itself: Artful touches abound in subtle electronics, in orchestral grandeur, in pealing guitar hooks..."
"[I]t's an album on which Matt Berninger, Aaron and Bryce Dessner, and Bryan and Scott Devendorf stray outside the previously clearly defined lines of what The National sound is. It's more experimental lyrically."
Paste (magazine) - "Musically, SLEEP WELL BEAST has more unexpected turns than any record the band has ever done....It doesn't skew from the high-caliber rock and roll the band has been producing since day one."
Pitchfork (Website) - "It is full of abandon and quiet contemplation as Matt Berninger sings not about how to enjoy life, but how to simply endure it."
Clash (Magazine) - "SLEEP WELL BEAST is an album that rewards repeat listens and unfurls its beauty slowly over time: The National have yet again made an album that's as brilliant as it is ambitious."